Swenson's last section deals with Kierkegaard's Attack Upon Christendom which he published in 1854 and 1855 in a series of articles in a newspaper he founded called The Instant (Oieblikket in Danish). Walter Lowrie translated the book into English in 1944, it was translated into German and, so Lowrie states, in every other language in 1861. Kierkegaard had been writing since he was a young man. He kept a journal and wrote many of his thoughts there, however, the originals from the earliest years to 1846 were supposedly lost by translator H.P. Barnum.

Kierkegaard wouldn't want you to read them and speculate upon them but just to read them and get what truth you can and put it into action. He believed individual truth and action went together. In other words, stop trying to know more things when you havenât even acted on what you think you know.

Howard V. Hong translated this book into English in 1998 under the title The Moment and Late Writings. We hear much about the Moment today. Kierkegaard first wrote about the Moment in Either-Or (1843) and then again in Philosophical Fragments (1844).

Kierkegaard was writing against the use of speculative knowledge in the world of the spirit. He envisioned the world of the flesh and the world of the spirit. Many march around the world of the spirit blowing their horns as though they were surrounding Jericho but never enter in. Others rush in and out as fast as they can change their coats. Kierkegaard felt people should enter into the world of the spirit so they can get first-hand knowledge of what it means to have a relationship with God. A resolution by one single individual is all it takes for the daring venture of becoming religious and, for Kierkegaard, becoming a Christian. He didn't want to hate and defy in ill-temper he wanted to be a faithful son and love unchanged by external circumstances. Kierkegaard didn't hate Christians.


This movie is part of the collection: Community Video

Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Soren Kierkegaard; Kierkegaard; David Swenson; Attack Upon Christendom; The Instant; Copenhagen; Denmark; Christianity; religion; existentialism; faith; Walter Lowrie, philosophy

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